Chapter Six

Error: Vision is Red

"Well, since we seem to be at an impasse, I propose this. Defeat me in a duel, and I will personally guard this place in an attempt to stop players from fighting this quest boss. If I win, however, you will join me as second-in-command at the time when I form a guild. Until then, you will leave the clearing party."

"Kirito-kun—" Asuna protested.

This is so familiar! But this pretentious prick attacked my pride. I won't - no - I can't back down.

"That's fine. I'm better with swords than words. Let's settle this with a duel."

"Very well. I don't believe you want them to watch, so we will go to a deeper spot in the cave, where no one will have the chance. I presume that your group will hold them off until the duel has been completed," he said, catching on to my wishes and obliging them.

"Thanks, I'll remember this kindness next time one of your future guild mates is in trouble," I said, waiting to see his reaction. I felt like something would happen if I said those words, so I decided to test it out.

"Well, Kirito-kun, it will be common courtesy, seeing as you will be initiated into the guild the next time we meet."

This seems vaguely familiar, just like I thought.

"You mean you're seriously going to just leave without us? Why? He could be trying to PK you, Kirito-kun!" Asuna was livid.

"We'll see about that." I said, ignoring Asuna entirely.

"No, Kirito-kun!" Asuna shouted yet again. I motioned to my sort-of friends to hold her back.

"Don't worry, Asuna. He's the strongest player in the game, bar none. You've seen his power first-hand," Rita said, trying to comfort the poor girl.

"Yeah, he'll be just fine. If I know Kirito, he'll definitely keep his streak. You see, Kirito has never once lost a duel in his life. He has tied at a duel once, but never lost." Cirdan said confidently.

"It was my idea, Asuna. He just figured it out when our eyes met," I said.

As we walked deeper through the cave, I started to question myself. What is he doing, leading me so deep into the cave? We definitely should be far enough away by now.

"We're being followed," he said quietly, so that only I could hear him.

"Should we try to lose them?" I asked, confident in his speed. He seemed to be a really strong player, so even if his DEX stat was low, we definitely had the ability to escape them. Our [[Hiding Skill]] helped a little, too.

"[[Hiding Skill]], or running? I'm not going to lie; I don't think I would be able to keep up with your speed." Heathcliff said, surprising me.

This guy isn't being truthful with me. Somehow, I can just tell. I guess I'll play along.

"Hiding it is, then. Three, two, one!" I whispered to the man before me.

As we activated our [[Hiding Skills]], we heard collective noises of dissatisfaction. Ignoring this, we continued our trek through the cave until Heathcliff deactivated his [[Hiding Skill]] and turned around.

I followed suit, and immediately afterwards I realized why he made us walk so far.

"You knew they would follow us. That way they would get lost, and neither be able to enter the quest boss room, nor be able to find us. That would've been dangerous if there were any monsters on land, but I've got to admit, that was good thinking in this case."

"Why thank you. You truly are as intelligent as the people make you out to be. Now, let's see if your strength matches your intelligence. I look forward to this duel," Heathcliff said calmly, sending a duel invitation.

Because the player who accepts the duel chooses the type of match, and because this was now a death game, I chose the [[First Strike]] mode. In this mode, the first person to make a clean hit, or reduce the opponent's damage by half, wins.

As the countdown started, Heathcliff said something that almost made my heart stop. "I do hope that you will show me this Unique Skill that everyone is talking about."

How does he know about it?! I don't get it! Wait a second, he probably meant my [[Crimson Momentum]]. Whew, that's good; I thought that I'd have to find yet another way to keep someone from talking about it.

"You mean [[Crimson Momentum]]? I hate to break it to you, but that's not a [[Unique Skill]]. It's just a skill that only one person can get, but it can still be obtained by anyone. It just so happens that I met the requirements to get it. Do I need to explain further?" I told him.

"No, that won't be necessary, thank you. Now, on your guard - it's about time for the duel to start."

10, 9, 8…

Judging from the build of his long-sword and shield, he probably has a hybrid stat build. His is probably +2 STR, and +1 CON, meaning he probably won't be very fast, just like he said. Of course, if his weapon, shield, or one of his accessories is a high class, then they might give a DEX boost, so I should be careful.

3, 2, 1, 0!

As soon as the timer hit zero, I… did nothing.

"One must attack if he wishes to win a duel," Heathcliff pointed out.

"I don't have to win; I just need to keep from losing. As long as we're not fighting, I'm not losing."

"So, in laymen's terms, you're scared," he said, tauntingly.

"You're annoying,"

I rushed in at full speed, sword already blazing into an uppercut. Heathcliff deflected the blow off his shield, and I used the momentum to make a follow-up strike. His hesitation was all I needed to start a vicious combo.

Thrust, side cut, overhead strike, spinning slash, side cut-

Heathcliff stood his ground.

- Two handed down strike, uppercut, [[Slant]], dodge the incoming slash and counter -

Faster... FASTER!

- Side cut, thrust, left, right, diagonal strike, [[Horizontal]], uppercut, slash, slash, slashslashslashslash -

Finally, I noticed the glint in Heathcliff's eyes and stopped attacking. Realization shook me to the core.

Heathcliff's life hadn't even dropped by 10%.

He'd blocked every.

Single.

Hit.

The heck? How is that even possible?! I have to analyze his battle patterns. I have to break through!

Left, right, diagonal, down, diagonal

He relies way too much on his shield, so if I use that new skill I just learned, I can throw his whole style off-balance.

I started charging it up, eager to see how well it worked. Its aura was invisible. It was perfect. He couldn't tell what I was doing at all.

"Do you plan on continuing? We can just end the duel now and call it a draw, if you wish," Heathcliff said smugly.

"Not a chance. You stepped on my pride, so I've got to prove myself," I said, irritated.

The skill finished charging, but the aura was still invisible. When I first learned it, it made a jolt when it finished charging, but that effect faded with repeated use.

"All right then, Kirito-kun. This time, I shall take the initiative. En garde!"

Heathcliff charged towards me, falling into my seemingly perfect plan. When he struck me with a Shield Bash, I was slightly caught off guard, but the skill still took effect, launching me into the air and onto the ceiling. I was unable to make the correct jump pattern, however, so I ended up flying straight into the wall behind me.

Uh oh. Aw, why the heck not? I thought, kicking off of the wall. To my surprise, the system assist came back into effect, and I even increased in speed. Note to self: multiple ricochets when using [[Arc Slash]] increases skill speed.

"What?" Heathcliff said, instinctively bringing up his shield to guard. Big mistake, pal.

"RRAAGH!" I screamed in fury.

The system carried my body through the air, and as my sword connected with Heathcliff's shield an explosion of lightning and a loud metallic cracking sound could be heard. The shield shattered in a shower of polygons, catching the tall man off guard. I tried to use this chance to strike him, but he blocked with his long-sword. That's right, he still has that sword, but we're on even ground now. Then again, he relied way too heavily on his shield for this to be a fair fight now.

After I jumped out of reach, Heathcliff said, "I'm impressed, Kirito-kun. You are very talented, indeed. It seems that I underestimated you. This will be a very interesting duel."

"But I just broke your shield!" What the heck is wrong with this guy! He relies so heavily on his shield, and now that it's broken, he doesn't show any sign of caring at all!

"But now we are on equal footing. It will be much more interesting this way."

"Screw it." I picked up speed, charging at him and activating another skill I recently learned; [[Vertical 360]], a somersaulting overhead strike. Jumping into the air, I delivered the skill perfectly, but the large man below me blocked it with ease. The force of the attack propelled me off his sword and onto the ground behind him, but he didn't even turn around. Landing gracefully, I turned around and looked at his HP bar.

What?! He STILL hasn't even gone a quarter of the way down! That's the true strength of a tank, I guess. The amazing thing is that he's so good without a shield, even when it's a part of his build. I wonder how long he's spent leveling up. His STR and CON count must be through the roof!

"Are you going to continue, Kirito-kun? I've been waiting patiently, but that patience is wearing thin."

"Well then, we'll just have to settle this. You see, I've been holding back." I said confidently.

He's been too confident, ever since the start of the battle. It's almost like he knew all of my moves! I feel like this skill will catch him off guard, though.

"Oh, is that so? Then please, do show me everything you have." Heathcliff said, still keeping the same impassive look.

"Urusai."

I activated [[Chain Skill]], starting up with an [[Inch Slash]] - a one-handed version of [[Blink Cut]]. I blurred up to him, but he blocked it with his sword, and I caught the subtle widening of his eyes.

So he doesn't know all of my attacks. Good! I can break through!

Forced back, I immediately ran back into action and performed a new skill I learned, [[Rapid Impaction]]. The skill initiated a devastatingly fast fifteen-hit combo.

Up, left, down, diagonal strike, down center, thrust, down-

Heathcliff seemed surprised, and was just barely able to block every strike that came his way. After the last slash, I regained control of my body and slashed upwards, knocking his sword into the air; yet, at the same time, he never let it go.

Then, I accidentally performed a skill that I thought would finish it regardless—the skill that almost got me killed. As [[Crimson Momentum]] began, my HP started dropping slowly.

Diagonal, up, down, center-thrust, down-

At the same time as the last hit of the combo was executed, being an upward slash, the one that would end this duel, my HP went into the yellow.

I… lost? I turned around wanting to see my failure for myself, just as proof. To my surprise, the message said something I never expected to see again in my life.

[[Tie, Battle End!]]

The hell?

"And that settles it. We seem to be at equal strength, Kirito-kun," the man said with an icy glare.

There's something very wrong. His voice sounds impressed to some extent, and yet the way he glared at me said that never in a million years did he expect to lose and he is extremely angry about it. It doesn't add up.

"I will admit defeat, seeing as you seemingly activated that skill by accident and yet still managed a tie. Neither of us shall speak of this as a tie, but will instead speak of this as your win. I trust that this is what you were hoping for, even if you didn't expect it," he said, finally smiling.

Something's wrong with that smile. It's obviously fake, but what's really wrong is the reason behind his smile, let alone his actions. It just doesn't add up.

"I appreciate your kindness, but why? Why are you doing this? It doesn't make sense."

"You need to keep up your reputation as the strongest, that way we can face each other on different terms when we fight again. It makes for a much more entertaining scenario when I make a comeback to defeat you next time, does it not?"

That smile seems sincere. He really is sure of his victory, isn't he?

"I can't say I agree with anything you just said, but as thanks, I'll go along with it. Let's go, they're probably all lost deep in the cave by this point."

We looked over every inch the cave for what seemed like hours, finding absolutely nothing.

Heathcliff broke the silence. "They probably decided to stay together, despite their seemingly intense hatred for each other. You most likely friended at least one of your group, so we might find them by tracing him or her. After all, there's always the possibility of a field boss spawning, even in an almost vacant cave like this.

What he just said doesn't sit right with me… WAIT!

"[[The Kraken's Crab]]! I have to check their location!"

I pulled up the in-game menu, brought up the friends list, touched Asuna's name, and hit trace. "NO!"

Asuna was exactly where the field boss spawned, and this field boss had another special ability that would panic unsuspecting players, leaving them as easy prey. When it's defeated without cutting a certain area, it multiplies.

I ran as fast as I could, not caring if Heathcliff followed me or not. I had to save them.

When I got to the alcove where the field boss spawned, my fears were confirmed. The entirety of Kibaou's group was either knocked out or struggling just to sit up, HP bars left with less than five percent. My group, however, was completely surrounded by more than fifteen of the crustacean fiends. So they're that good? Ironic; that makes it really bad in this case.

"Rita! Cirdan! Asuna! Aim for their eyes! You have to hit all of their eyes in the same attack to beat them!" I exclaimed.

"Got it!" one of them shouted back.

Running over to them at full speed, I lopped one of the field bosses in half with a powerful sword skill, going through all eight eyes at once, and then slashing down. Thousands of polygons scattered in every direction. I destroyed the field boss in one hit. Rita and Cirdan seemed to be holding their own very well, destroying a few of the fiends here and there. Asuna, however, was struggling to switch between dodging the multitude of field bosses and attacking their eyes.

Then it clicked. Asuna's weapon isn't meant for slashing, and you have to slash through all the eyes in the same strike! This is really bad!

"Asuna! Move, now! I'll take over!"

"What? WAAH!" She had turned her back to one of the field bosses while talking to me, and I saw it slash her in the back with one of its scythe-like pincers.

"Arigatou, sayonara."

And that was all it took. My vision turned to a clear red, and I couldn't think straight.

"RRAAAAAGH! Urusai, urusai, URUSAI!" I screamed in rage, destroying anything in sight. If it couldn't be destroyed in one hit, I moved on to the next, and the next, and the next, until I could only see pure rubble. A few times, I thought I heard the sound of metal clashing, but I didn't care.

Three human-shaped beings came into my line of sight, all of which seemed to be threats even with my clouded eyes. I charged.

These things were considerably harder to beat than the field bosses I had been fighting before. They had their own weapons and were able to use them to block my strikes, though I could tell that they were wearing down.

"Please Kirito, stop this now!" exclaimed one of the three, his loud voice hurting my ears which were on overdrive due to whatever had come over me.

"URUSAI, URUSAI, URUSAI!" I screamed. My sword knocked his cleaver-like weapon into the air and it landed on the ground behind him.

Just before I was about to land a fatal combo, someone, seemingly female, appeared in front of him blindingly fast, and blocked it with her katana.

"Kirito! STOP!" The female yelled, damaging my ears even more than the man with the cleaver.

"URUSAI, URUSAI!Get away! I haven't finished him yet! I'll get to you next, so please wait!" I yelled, a sadistic smirk appearing on my face near the end.

"Kirito-kun! Please, just stop! You'll kill your friends!" said a female voice behind me.

Friends? What friends? I don't have any—

Bu-bump.

Images of Asuna appeared before me. Then, Cirdan and Rita started to surface in the images. A pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, snapping me out of my deep rage. I looked at my HP bar and noticed that I had the [[Bleeding]] status condition with my remaining life rapidly draining out. Just before my HP drained to zero, the [[Bleeding]] condition disappeared, leaving me with a mere 3 HP out of 1550. I looked at Cirdan's HP bar and noticed that he was in the red as well.

I surveyed our surroundings, finding nothing but rubble and two level-up signs, both addressed to me.

"What happened? Where are Kibaou and his group?" I said drowsily.

"I evacuated them out safely when you started decimating those giant crabs. What were those, anyway?" Rita inquired nervously.

"Those were field bosses, [[Kraken's Crabs]]. They multiply when you kill them without hitting all of their eyes in one slash. That slash has to be a one-hit-kill; otherwise, you'll never be able to kill them." I blinked, "Wait, did I do all that? Then…did I attack you guys?"

"Yeah, you did."

A/N:

Finally, a chapter that doesn't have some kind of cliffhanger, to some extent.

I'm not going to make my author's note very long as there isn't much of a reason to.

I will explain three things:

One is that those Crabs aren't meant to be strong; their special ability (Multiplying) just makes them terrifying to people who don't know how to kill them.

Second, I'll explain what 'urusai' means for those of you who don't know. Urusai is Japanese for, "shut up," or, "you're loud," depending on the context/translation. I of course am using it as "shut up."

And third, you might wonder what happened to Kirito. It's a system error that happens whenever one of the champions goes into an extreme rage: [[Blood Rage]].

May happiness be with you,

OMG